Biggest concern for me is whether Chapdelaine will listen to a younger Benevides.......or will his arrogance win out?........If he chooses to listen, we will see similar offense to what won us a cup in 2011.

As for 4-3 vs 3-4, I believe that last year proved that the 4-3 (with a six man rotation, 5 import, 1 non-import) made our secondary a LOT BETTER........even with the loss of Brent Johnson and Aaron Hunt, IMO, with Westerman, Henley, White, et al , we still have the horses to effectively do the same in 2012.

Rarely has a rookie HC had such a strong roster and coaching staff and I am looking for him to really assert himself.

Wally, with less day to day details to deal with should emerge as an even better GM than in the past. I look for him to become a an even better talent evaluator and a great capoligist. The team has already had a fantastic off season, at least on paper.

But, what is this I keep reading about Wally being a great spokesman," y'know", "at the end of the day", "y'know", I just don't know about that one.

DanoT wrote:But, what is this I keep reading about Wally being a great spokesman," y'know", "at the end of the day", "y'know", I just don't know about that one.

Wally does have his pet phrases. When Wally arrived here in 2003, Dan Russell made fun of it. But pet phrases have nothing to do with the content of what he says, how he says it, and how he shows respect for teams, staff and players in the words he chooses.

He has always been a statemanlike representative of the Lions (and the Stampeders before that) and of the CFL itself. He supports minor football. He is gracious in his press conferences. He does have a personal, natural charm which helps him.

His press conferences are respectful and relatively generous with information.

He does not disparage other teams. He has largely been complimentary of his players, even when they have played poorly, or have been in trouble. One can see the respect he has earned from professional football people and much of the media.

DanoT wrote:But, what is this I keep reading about Wally being a great spokesman," y'know", "at the end of the day", "y'know", I just don't know about that one.

Wally does have his pet phrases. When Wally arrived here in 2003, Dan Russell made fun of it. But pet phrases have nothing to do with the content of what he says, how he says it, and how he shows respect for teams, staff and players in the words he chooses.

He has always been a statemanlike representative of the Lions (and the Stampeders before that) and of the CFL itself. He supports minor football. He is gracious in his press conferences. He does have a personal, natural charm which helps him.

His press conferences are respectful and relatively generous with information.

He does not disparage other teams. He has largely been complimentary of his players, even when they have played poorly, or have been in trouble. One can see the respect he has earned from professional football people and much of the media.

"Great spokesman"? I'll stand by that.

In short, he generally doesn't come off like John Tortorella when he deals with the media.

Sports can be a peculiar thing. When partaking in fiction, like a book or movie, we adopt a "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" for enjoyment's sake. There's a similar force at work in sports: "Willing Suspension of Rationality". If you doubt this, listen to any conversation between rival team fans. You even see it among fans of the same team. Fans argue over who's the better QB or goalie, and selectively cite stats that support their views while ignoring those that don't.

WestCoastJoe wrote:Wally does have his pet phrases. When Wally arrived here in 2003, Dan Russell made fun of it. But pet phrases have nothing to do with the content of what he says, how he says it, and how he shows respect for teams, staff and players in the words he chooses.

He has always been a statemanlike representative of the Lions (and the Stampeders before that) and of the CFL itself. He supports minor football. He is gracious in his press conferences. He does have a personal, natural charm which helps him.

His press conferences are respectful and relatively generous with information.

He does not disparage other teams. He has largely been complimentary of his players, even when they have played poorly, or have been in trouble. One can see the respect he has earned from professional football people and much of the media.

"Great spokesman"? I'll stand by that.

In short, he generally doesn't come off like John Tortorella when he deals with the media.

LOL That had crossed my mind when I was blogging. Tortorella could be a spokesman for Anger Management Anonymous, as the before picture. "Do you have days when you feel like this guy? Well then, Anger Management Anonymous is here to help."

He is almost funny, except it is Hell for the reporters. I expect they do not even want to ask him anything, but have to in order to get some kind of quote. It would be funny if at one of his "conferences" no one asked anything. He could sit there for one minute, no one asks, and he gets up and leaves. It is pretty much like that anyway.

Tighthead wrote:WCJ, I can't believe Dan took cheapshots, and if he did I can't imagine him recycling his material. He is very fairminded and likes to keep his material fresh. #circustime #WHL #houseradio

Tighthead, back at that time, 2003, I used to listen to Russell. He did make fun of Wally and his pet phrases. He used to count how many times Wally would say "as it were," "at the end of the day," et cetera. (I have to admit we did the same thing in school with certain teachers).

Wally still has his pet phrases, but in my opinion has gotten much better in his public speaking. I think when he got here he was also kind of unsettled after the Calgary business with Feterik and Fateri, et cetera.

WestCoastJoe wrote:LOL Well, I haven't listened to Russell since 2003, but I do recall that he did not have much/anything good to say about the CFL or the Lions at that time.

With apologies to one of our fellow posters, getting off of 'NW, whose lead sports voice basically doesn't even acknowledge the existence of the league and is, at best, incompetent in discussing it on those rare occasions that he does, was one of Ackles' best decisions.